Being Aware of Present Moment

"The present moment is the point of entry to consciousness." Eckhart Tolle

Powerful words.  Tolle also says that most humans either resist the present moment or use the present moment as a means of getting to what they think will be better.  The latter has certainly been true for me.  What is it about humans that we stay so much in our thoughts, which Tolle says are not really even us?  I have read elsewhere that thoughts are not individual, but that thoughts come from a collective energy.  That is sobering for any of us who have prided ourselves on our thoughts.  Tolle says that truly creative thought can only come from consciousness, and that is found only in the present moment and not in our own thoughts.  He says that for most humans the thoughts own them, that we are actually held captive by our thoughts.  For any of us who have been unable to get a thought, usually of an upsetting nature, out of our minds, we know what he is referring to.  Noticing things in nature, without labeling them, is one way to be present.  Truly being with a person is another way to be present.  We benefit ourselves and all other people when we are able to be present.